


What the Heck

by Rubombee



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Alola-chihou | Alola Region (Pokemon), Gen, Nuzlocke Challenge, POV First Person, Pokemon Ultra Moon Version, Present Tense, Short Chapters, Swearing, angst i think, but comfort too, i literally don't know if anyone dies yet, some chapters somehow became slice of life-ish, there are some chat fic elements to this as well, will probably add more tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubombee/pseuds/Rubombee
Summary: One day, Milza wakes up inside a bedroom that isn't hers, in a world that she knows nothing about, and with no memories at all on top of that.What the heck is going on?This was supposed to be a simple written log. Turns out my brain doesn't like simple things, so it's a full written story now.Based on an Ultra Moon nuzlocke (my first). I'm writing as I play the game and totally making up stuff as I go.Don't hope for regular updates though!
Relationships: Lilie | Lillie & Hau (Pokemon) & Original Pokemon Trainer(s), Lilie | Lillie (Pokemon) & Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1
Collections: Nuzlocke Forums Content, The Storylocke Compendium





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mirror of the [Nuzforums thread](https://nuzlockeforums.com/forum/threads/what-the-heck-a-pok%C3%A9mon-ultra-moon-story.198/).
> 
> ##### Rules :
> 
> • If a Pokémon faints, they're dead and permaboxed  
> • Catch only the first Pokémon you can in each area  
>  • Dupe Clause: If you've already caught anything in a Pokémon's evo line, skip it and repeat until something you can catch shows up  
>  • If the previously caught dupe is dead, though, this does not apply  
>  • Shiny Clause: If a shiny is encountered, well catch it wtf are you doing  
>  • Shinies can be used in the team  
>  • Pinwheel Clause: Route 1 counts as three areas  
>  • Poké Pelago counts as an area  
> • Nickname all Pokémon
> 
> This is all because of [Tailsimp](https://nuzlockeforums.com/forum/members/tailsimp.50/) ~~go blame her~~

“MRAAAWR”

Oh _come on_. Can’t I just stay in bed a little more?  
Maybe I could try to stay still, as if I haven’t heard anything…

“MEEEOOOW”

Fine, fine! Who even let this cat into my room? My eyes open slowly.  
Pink. Ugh, what. Since when is my-  
_Wait._

_This isn’t my room._

The bed’s cover rustles as I abruptly sit up straight, looking around. This _isn’t_ my room!  
For some reason, I can’t even remember what my actual room looks like. But I am one hundred percent sure I am _somehow not in it_. What the heck is all this stuff? There’s a desk glued to the wall with a book and a globe on it, a freaking TV, some huge plush of a weird creature, a strangely-shaped carpet with a-  
Huuuuuh- the _hell_ is that cat? All grey with little bits of white and some big-ass eyes that stare into your freakin’ soul. I was starting to wonder if that was even a cat when it meowed again before dashing out.  
Well, okay. Sure. To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting. Sighing, I take a quick glance at the room again. How did I get here? And most importantly, _where_ exactly is “here”?

One thing’s sure, though, asking myself these questions over and over can only lead to an incredibly unhelpful amount of overthinking. I try not to give in to the anxiety as I get up from the pink bed. Seems like I’m fully clothed. There are shoes nearby, as well as a hat and a bag on a coat rack, but I’d rather try not to mess with anything.  
On my left, a door stands ajar. I’m pretty sure the “cat” went this way. I mean, it’s not like it could’ve went anywhere else… Trying to gather whatever courage I may have – if any… –, I take a few steps towards that door, which somehow becomes more and more menacing the closer I get.  
It feels like I’ve never been scared more of anything but opening it. Before I can stop it, my fucker of a brain jumps on the occasion and starts a list whose sole purpose seemingly is to make me curl up in a ball and cry.  
I don’t know where I am.  
I don’t know what happened to me.  
I don’t know what’s behind that door.  
I...

 _creeeeeak._  
“Mrow?”  
The cat. The wide eyes pull me right from the stupor I was starting to sink in. It had come back to get me, as if I had been taking too long to follow suit. Sighing again, I kneel down and approach my hand. It allows me to pet it. The silver fur is soft and warm.  
On second thought, that cat looks kinda cute.  
  
_Wham!_  
The door suddenly opens, making me nearly jump. A person wearing a long yellow skirt with flowers bursts in. I’m so taken aback that I don’t move an inch.  
“I was starting to wonder if Espurr had managed to wake you up!” they giggle. “You’ve been sleeping like a log since we moved in.”  
Frozen in stupefaction, my brain tries to process what I’ve just heard. As I pick up “Es- _what now_ ”, they keep going:  
“Alola is so _incredible_! I was watching the shooting stars a second ago, the night is _gorgeous_. And the landscape! Everything is so different from Kalos!”  
Okay, wow, wait, slow down for a sec here. For some reason I can’t recall where I live, but it’s _certainly not_ either of whatever these two were. And secondly-  
“Hey, um, I’m sorry, I, huh, don’t think I know you.”  
Silence.  
They’re looking at me like they need a moment to understand what I’ve just said. And… they start laughing.  
“Oh my _gosh_! I can’t _believe_ you almost had me there! How did you manage to keep such a serious face? There’s no way you wouldn’t know your own _mother_!”  
Speechless, I try to observe her more carefully. I can’t explain why, but upon reflection, she does seem familiar. As if she just looks a lot like someone I know, but not completely. It’s a weird feeling.  
“Hey, joking aside – Milza, are you okay? You’re very pale.”  
I- Is that my name? I feel like it is.  
“How do you know my name?”  
“Wh- I’m your _mom_!” She looks alarmed now. “What you need is a breath of fresh air to put you straight. Here-” As she goes to take the shoes, hat and bag near the bed, she carries on: “Put these on and go for a little stroll outside. Espurr- make sure she does it, please.” And all of a sudden she’s left the room.  
  
The cat nudges me. I can’t help but sigh and mumble to myself as I do what my so-called mom told me to.  
“Yeah, okay, _fine, whatever,_ it’s not like I’ve got any plans, I don’t even know what the _fuck_ is happening anyway…”  
The door leads me to… a living-room or something, I think. There are a few cardboard boxes scattered here and there. The cat is following me. I stare back at it.  
“Hey you. Es-something? Which door’s the way out?”  
I could _swear_ it gave me a “you should know that” look before trotting toward one of the doors. Rushing through the living-room, I open it and get out. The breeze is almost chilly and it looks like it’s the middle of the fucking night.

_Great._


	2. Meeting

Even with my arms wrapped around me, I still shiver. I mean, all I’ve got on me is white shorts, an orange top that doesn’t even have sleeves and this stupid hat. A quick glance at the house behind tells me that the cat is just sitting here, staring at me. Fairly usual cat behaviour – but still, this is getting a bit creepy.  
Before me is a wood fence. There’s some kind of house on a beach in the distance.  
Suddenly, I realise that I don’t have any glasses on, and yet I can see perfectly. Another thing to add to the list of weird shit, I guess… at least _this_ change is for the better.  
Turning to the right, I notice a locked gate in the fence. Welp, not going there, then. Further away is some construction site. Any other way outta here, then?  
The path on the other side of the house is clear. Must be where I’m supposed to go. Still…  
“Hey, the cat?”  
It blinks.  
“Do you, um… want to… come along?”  
The only movement I get as a response is another blink.  
“Y’know, so you could, huh, watch over me or something? Isn’t that what my apparently-mom told you to do?”  
Something that looks a lot like a cat-sigh. And it gets up.  
A teensy bit of warmth sprouts in my chest. At least I won’t be _totally_ alone. I’m about to thank it when it suddenly dashes to the part of the road that’s blocked.  
“Wh- hey! _Wait up!_ ”

The fresh air of the night fills up my lungs while I try to run after it. After taking a turn to the right, it goes up a path I hadn’t noticed before. _Right!_ Surely the only thing I need right now is to go up a fucking hill to follow some stupid cat.  
_Sigh_. Of course I’m still gonna chase after it.

I think I ran past a few people. Not gonna go back to check. Especially if I can avoid human interaction. Trying to catch my breath, I stop and shake my right foot in an attempt to get rid of some pebble that found its way inside.  
After eventually succeeding (thank god, I hate this kind of thing), I finally take some time to look around.  
Huge bushes of flowers, tall palm trees, a view of a bay filling the horizon, along with a shooting-star filled sky. Truly postcard material.  
“Well I still have no fucking clue where I am, but at _least_ it kinda looks nice.”

_Grrrrrft!_  
Sounds like someone just sneezed…? But I don’t see anyone around-  
_“Wuuuu…”  
“BWARK BWARK”_  
Wow, what the hell? This time though, I know where the noise is coming from. Just a few steps in the grass that’s a bit taller over there-

“Grrrft!” “Bwark!!”  
…That must be some of the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen.  
Okay so, like, right there in front of me, there’s a sort of round owl, a… huh… four-legged brown thing and a blue, huh, seal? Fighting? Is that an usual thing around here?  
“Wuuull!”  
That was the owl, I think? It doesn’t look so good. Is it hurt?  
Well, it seems like the blue one is trying to protect it from sneeze-guy, the brown one. Wait, doesn’t a bird have wings? Why is it not flying away? Does it want to stay with its blue friend or something?  
What am I even supposed to do??  
_HISSSSSSS!_  
What now- OH! It’s the cat! Before I can say anything, it slides between the two opponents, facing against… sneeze-guy.  
And then-  
I’m not quite sure what happened, but… Cat’s eyes started glowing, and from them, some kind of-- _beam_ came out, and knocked the brown one out?  
It looked so weird, as if the beam was multi-colored but also colorless at the same time??  
“Woah, you can do that? _How?_ ”  
Cat stares at me, then at the other two… creatures.  
“OH, yeah, right, how are you guys doing?”  
They flinch as I kneel down next to them, but Cat starts purring and that seems to calm them down.  
“Okay, nice, let me get a better look at you two… Oh wow, did that thing _bite_ you?”  
The owl has on its wing a wound that looks a lot like a bite mark. Maybe that’s why it didn’t fly away? The beige bird seems scared.  
“Huuuuuh- um- what can I- oh! I know!”  
I’m gonna try to make my voice as gentle as possible. Hope I don’t sound too scary.  
“Can I… pick you up and bring you somewhere you can rest?”  
It looks hesitant.  
Why am I even talking to them? Can they understand?  
…It nods. Apparently, they can.  
After lifting carefully the fuzzy owl in my arms (and making sure the seal that just jumped on my shoulders isn’t gonna fall down), I follow the cat back to the house I woke up in, rushing as fast as I can without falling over like an idiot.


	3. A conversation

Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long to go back. Without thinking, I push the door open. No one’s there.  
“Huh, h-hello? Please?”  
No answer.  
…Maybe I should try talking louder? Before I can try, though, Cat’s gone towards a door on the left. It- they? start scratching it while meowing loudly.  
Seems like it worked, because a muffled voice then comes from the room pretty much instantly:  
“What is it, Espurr? You hungry?”  
_Phew!_ She’s here. For a moment, I thought I would have to deal with this all by myself. The owl in my arms lets out a soft hoot.  
“Shhh, it’s okay, they’re a friend,” I whisper, before realizing that I have actually no idea. But where else could I go anyway?  
Yellow-skirt cuts my thoughts short, briskly opening the door that Cat was still scratching.  
“ _What is it?_ ”  
“I- um- I need-”  
Her eyes dart to me…  
“And why are _you_ alr-”  
… before moving to my arms. One second suffices for her to understand.  
“A _Popplio!_ And a _Rowlet!_ Where did you find them? Are they hurt? Oh _gosh,_ come over here!”

*  
* *

We’re sitting at the table. The owl, after eating some kind of blue fruit Yellow-skirt gave it, is now seemingly have a wordy conversation – if it could be described as such – with Cat and the blue seal. I can’t help but smile; they look much happier now.  
A sigh. I look up: Yellow-skirt is staring at me.  
“Milza, where did you find a Popplio and a Rowlet? I heard they’re very rare Pokémon. Their owners, if they have any, must be looking for them!”  
Stunned, I try to rewind her words in my head. Three of them still don’t make sense. I decide to pick randomly:  
“Pokey- _what?_ ”  
She frowns, but as she opens her mouth to answer, someone knocks on the door.

“Hello?”  
“Sorry for bothering you at this hour. You are the new neighbors, right?”  
“We are! And… I assume that’s not all you came here for?”  
“Well, yeah. You see, two Pokémon I’m taking care of somehow managed to escape, and…”  
“ _Bwark??_ ”  
At the sound, a head pokes through the threshold. It’s dark-skinned with a small beard, glasses and a white cap. It quickly notices the group of creatures on the table.  
“Oh hello you two! How did you get in there?”

“So these are yours?”  
We’re sitting at the table again; except this time with a new guest. Who, for some reason, has no shirt.  
“They sure are,” No-Shirt says, petting the round owl. “Thanks for taking care of them, by the way! I hope they didn’t cause too much trouble?”  
“Oh no, not at all,” Yellow-skirt replies. I have a feeling I won’t ever feel okay calling her “mom” no matter how many times she claims it. “But when Milza came in with them, that Rowlet was-”  
She suddenly stops and stares at me.  
“But you still haven’t told me where you found them! Did you even see what hurt it?”  
“Hurt?” No-Shirt looks at me, surprised.  
…They’re both waiting for my explanation now.  
And that is, of course, the moment my vocal cords decide to stop working.  
As I try to say something, anything, please, oh my god, why am I still silent – my eyes meet the cat’s.  
I have no idea if these huge eyes are trying tell me anything at all, but for some reason, it works. The words that got stuck in my chest can finally come out.  
“W-well, um, I was, following the cat outside, and- after going up a sort of hill, I think, I heard some weird noise, and… W-when I went to see what it was, I saw them both and they were being attacked, I think-- There was a, huh, brown little creature with sharp teeth, the Cat made it, um, go away… somehow… b-but I think it had bitten the… owl’s wing…”  
After a short silence, Yellow-Skirt takes the floor:  
“The cat? You mean Espurr, right?”  
“Um, I, yeah.”  
Es-purr? Is that the cat’s name? Did I catch it right?  
“Brown with sharp teeth…” No-Shirt looks pensive. “A Yungoos?”  
“Huuuuh… The noise it made sounded like someone sneezing?”  
“…Seems accurate. But how did you get rid of it?”  
“I… are you gonna believe me?”  
A quick perplexed glance at each other. And both nod.  
“The ca- I mean, Espurr’s eyes started glowing, and then some sort of… weirdly-colored energy beam came out-”  
“Oh! Well, that sounds just like regular ol’ Psybeam to me! Pretty good move, especially when a Psychic type uses it. No wonder it made that Yungoos flee!”  
Does that kind of thing happen regularly?? I’m still trying to understand these words as they keep talking:  
“Funny how this happened, because I was supposed to offer you one of these as a gift, haha!”  
“Wh- what? me? Really?”  
Do they know who I am? Where I come from?  
“Yeah, cousin!”  
“But, huh, how did you know about me?”  
“Well, as soon as I knew about new people moving in, I told the kahuna, and he suggested I give you a Pokémon as a welcome! This way, you can become a Pokémon trainer and take the Island challenge as well!”  
“Wh-”  
“Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything! But tomorrow is probably a better time for that, eh, cousin?”  
They wink like it’s a joke, but they do kinda have a point. This whole conversation has brought me more questions than answers, and there are so many dandling threads I’d like to tie together… but with all this trouble, I had forgotten how late it was.  
Seems like Yellow-skirt agrees:  
“Oh! That does sounds like a good idea. We could use a good rest.”

As we all get up, No-shirt turns towards the three creatures, who are still on the table.  
“Popplio, Rowlet! Want to come back to the lab, so Milza can choose one of you two tomorrow?”  
I’m too tired at this point to even think about asking how they know my name. But as I expect the… “Pop-lio” and “Row-let” to jump into No-shirt’s arms (even though they have no shirt…), they… stay were they are and shake their head.  
“Oh? Do you _both_ want to stay here?”  
As a response, “Rowlet” proceeds to fly its way up to Yellow-skirt’s head, and “Popplio”… jumps into _my_ arms.

“What?”  
Oh, apparently I just said that out loud. No-shirts starts laughing.  
“Haha, it seems like you’ve both chosen yourselves new partners! Leaving your ol’ Kukui so soon?  
“I hope you both don’t mind? ‘cause it looks like they really want to stay!”  
Coo-coo-i? Is that a name? I’m too stunned to answer, but Yellow-skirt takes care of it:  
“Oh, that’s no problem! I have to admit, I was considering getting a new Pokémon to keep Espurr company~”  
“Whuuul!”

*  
* *

“What a friendly Professor! It was nice to speak with him in person.”  
Him? “Do you know who that was?”  
“Of course! Kukui is Alola’s Pokémon Professor. We had a video call with him, remember? He lives nearby!”  
Well, so much for remembering. But I guess I can take her word.  
But as she goes towards what I assume is her room’s door, I realize that I have one last question to ask.  
“H-hey, um, m-mom..?”  
She stops and looks at me inquiringly.  
“W-what was your name again?”  
A stunned look. Followed by laughter, as she disappears in her room:  
“Come on! You can stop these jokes, you know? Don’t tell me you _actually_ forgot my name was Ellaine!”

*  
* *

I’m sitting on my bed. I haven’t even bothered to try to find pyjamas. I’m looking at “Popplio” and it’s looking back.  
It…  
“Hey… Pop-lio?  
“I’m not sure if you can really understand me, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… since apparently you’ll be staying with me now… What should I use for you? They? He? She?”  
“ _Bwark!_ ”  
“The last one? She?”  
“Bwark bwark!”  
She it is.  
But there’s one last thing, before I can lay down and try to forget about my worries…  
“And… “Popplio” is your name, right?”  
I was expecting a nod, but… she shakes her head.  
“…No? What is it then? Do you even _have_ one?”  
Headshake.  
“…Would you… like to have a name?”  
Enthusiastic nod. She even adds a little “bwark”.  
“Guess I have to name you, then?  
“…What about… Blu? B-L-U? Sorry, I’m not very-”  
“BWARK!”

…I think she likes it.


	4. I've just been in this place before

“MEOW?”

…I'm having a strong feeling of déjà vu here… how come?

“MROOOW”

Yeah, yeah, got it, I'm getting up.  
Yawning as I rub my hands on my eyes, I try to sit up in the warm bed. There's something heavy blocking my legs.

It's a curled up grey cat.  
Everything that happened last night rewinds instantly in my head.

…Aaand now I'm crying. Great. Of course. Of _course_ I have to _cry_ at some point. What the _hell_ is even happening. I don't fucking remember a _damn thing_ about myself. I don't know _where_ I am or what the _heck_ gonna happen to me – oh, _wait_. I remember my _name_. My first name. Yeah that's gonna be _real helpful_ for sure.  
Maybe I just lost all my memories for some reason and this is actually my real house. Or maybe I just ended up in another world or some shit. _Who fucking knows_.  
Oh and now my nose is running. _OF COURSE_.

“Mrow?”

It's Espurr again. Really, sometimes I could _swear_ this cat is reading my mind and meowing exactly at the right moment. I try to wipe my tears my the bed's cover.  
“…Why did you even wake me up if you were sleeping on me?”  
Indecipherable stare.  
_Sigh_. “Fine. Whatever. Don't say anything.  
“…Not like you could, anyway.”  
“Bwaa... ahhh... ark?”  
That was Blu. Apparently, she was sleeping on the pillow.  
…Honestly, I never thought a yawning seal could be so cute.

I kinda have to move, though. I look back at Espurr.  
“Hey, um, I'm gonna move, by the way, so if you don't wa- huh- … _what?_ ”  
For a second, I almost thought I was still asleep and dreaming.  
The grey cat hasn't moved a hair, but its – their? – eyes are glowing, as if they were gonna go in laser mode again, but instead the cat is just… floating.  
As Espurr calmly drifts towards the glued-to-the-wall desk, I realize I had stopped breathing and take a deep inspiration. Upon reflection, that isn't any weirder than having laser eyes. And if that is common, according to "Coo-coo-i", then maybe levitation is, too. I can't help but shrug.  
“Sure, go float or whatever the heck you're usually up to.” 

*  
* *

After putting on the sandals and hat and placing Blu in the shoulder bag, I slowly open the bedroom's door and peek into the living room. Seems like no one's there. There's something on the table, though.  
After getting closer, it appears that it is a sort of hole-less donut in a plate, with a written note tucked under a glass of water. I take a look at the note.  
“Good morning (if it's still morning when you wake up)!  
“This is your breakfast. It's called a malasada, and it's one of Alola's specialities <3  
“When you're done, go check out Iki Town! It’s not far from here.  
“Love,  
“your mom <3”  
So… what did she say her name was again? Ah, yeah, Ellaine. My… “mom”.  
“bawk?”  
Apparently, Blu likes likes the smell. Her little head is peeking out of the bag, sniffing the malasada. It does look pretty tasty... A growl from my empty stomach tells me it agrees.  
Although it _also_ looks like someone dumped a whole bucket of sugar on that thing. I look around.  
…Oh thank god – there's a sink, and _with soap_. I don't think I could've been able to bear not being able to wash my hands after touching something that greasy.  
I sit down in the nearest chair and gulp the glass of water first. Apparently you're supposed to drink two whole liters every day or something. I have yet to figure out how to manage that.

In the meantime, Blu completely got out of the bag I'm still wearing and her eyes are glinting with eagerness.  
“Do you… want some?”  
But as I realize that this may not be adequate food for a weird blue seal, she's already taken a bite.  
…Welp, let's hope she doesn't die, I guess.  
She looks at me, a very content expression on her face. I decide that it's my turn and slowly grab the huge thing, quickly giving up on trying to touch it with as less fingers as possible.  
My brain finds a way to think “Fingers crossed this isn't poison or some shit” before I bite off a big piece of sugary dough. 

*  
* *

Conclusion: if that malasada had poison in it, it wasn't instantaneous.  
And malasadas are also _damn delicious_.

The sun is waaay up in the almost-cloudless sky when I go outside, after washing my hands – and, of course, somehow only noticing the drying towel after I had already wiped them on my shorts.

I decide to go the same way as yesterday. I like to stick with what I already know – even though I'm not alone. I have to admit that I would feel safer with Espurr by my side, but… hey, laser eyes are _scary,_ okay? How am I supposed to do anything that might upset a _magic cat?_

With all that talk, I'm already at the place where I met Blu. I kinda hope sneeze-face isn't here anymore. But why would it? A whole lot of time passed, right? Of course it's gone. Still… let's just… run through that tall grass, just in case…

…Nothing. See? No reason to be worried… No reason at all…  
Oh no, there's _people_.

I think I managed to avoid eye contact. Social interaction is probably the last thing I need right now. To be honest, I don't even know where I'm going… where the heck is Iki Town? How am I supposed to know? I have no fucking clue where I am or where I come from. Am I gonna have to ask people? Because there's no way I'm doing that. Nope. Guess I'll just stand here. With my blue seal. Yep. Nothing wrong here. Absolutely nothing. Don't mind me, just standing on the side of the road like the stupid lost person I a-

“ _Hey!_ ”


	5. Still doesn't make any sense

“ _Hey there!!”_

Are they talking to me. What if they aren't and it's awkward if I answer. But what if they are talking to me and I can't say anything because of how stupidly way too shy I am and it's even worse.  
Oh no I'm gonna fucking cry again. _And they're coming closer_. Oh my god.  
“Heyy! Do you- OOOOH is that a Popplio?? It's so cute! Is it Prof Kukui's?? Do you know him? Did he give it to you? Did you find it yourself?”  
Yeah okay they're definitely talking to me. Did they mention the Coocoo-guy? I think they did. I'm probably supposed to answer now. But I waited too much. And I somehow still can't talk-

 _pssshht!_  
Did Blu just _spit water on their face?_ Oh my god _what?_  
“OH NO I'm sorry oh geez- um- huh- I don't think I have any towels or anything to huh-”  
“Woah ha, there's no problem! Heh, I probably just got a little too close! It'll just dry by itself, don't worry about it, haha!”  
They're... smiling and laughing. Okay. Sure. But how the heck did Blu spit that much water?? I'm gonna have to think about that later.  
“I, um- The… professor you were talking about, does he have no shirt?”  
After half a second of surprise, the stranger laughs even harder.  
“Oh yeah! I guess that _is_ one way to describe him, hehe! So you do know him?”  
“Huh, kinda? His, um, Row-let and Pop-lio ran away and I found them, and then he came to the house to get them back but they huh, decided to stay...?”  
Why am I even telling all that to a stranger? I don't know. Is it just because they mentioned professor Coocoo-guy? Or do they just seem… nice?  
“Woaah, so Popplio chose you? Awesome!! You know, Litten chose me too, just a few days ago!”  
That raises a good question, and I'm wondering how I never thought of it before. _Why_ did Blu choose _me?_

“By the way, I've never seen you around! You must be one of the new neighbors, right? Gramps did say that we should offer you a Pokémon! Is that why you have a Popplio?”  
How are they still talking so fast? Although I just noticed we've missed quite an important part of the conversation.  
“Hey, um… by the way, what's your name? And… what pronouns do you prefer to be called?”  
“Oh! Yeah, I forgot that! I'm Hau! And, huh, I use guy pronouns. He.”  
So… his name is _“How”._ How the _heck_ do you spell all these names?  
“Aaaand what about you?”  
“Oh, huh. My name is Milza. And, um… she/her.”  
_My name is Milza._ It feels weird saying this out loud. As if I was regaining just a tiny bit of control over this whole mess of a situation.  
“Well, nice to meet you, Milza! Wanna see Leo?”  
Leo? But before I can ask anything, “How” opens his orange backpack and takes out a small orb. It’s white and red, with a line cutting it in two and a small circular button. And he promptly presses said button.

“ _Wh- What just happened??”_  
There was a sudden flash of light and now there’s… a cat. A red and black cat with a big head.  
_“Where does that cat come from?”_  
I look at “How” in hope of an explanation. He looks… confused. But not the same confused as “I have no idea”.  
“Er… From the pokéball? I just pressed the button so Leo could come out.  
“You what?”  
“…I opened Leo’s pokéball by pressing the button.”  
“The _what?_ ”  
“Um… this?”  
He hands me the orb. I stare at it. Then at the cat. Then back at the orb.  
Why does it seem like every time I think things couldn’t get any weirder, they inevitably do?  
“Do you… not know how pokéballs work?”  
I stare at him.  
“Pokey… balls??”  
And now he looks even more confused. Is _this_ common too?  
But the word suddenly rings a bell.  
“ _Wait!_ Is this linked with this other “Pokey-man” word I keep hearing?”  
…Seems like he can’t believe what I’m saying. _Am I really supposed to know about all this?_

“Milza! _There_ you are!”  
A voice exclaims from behind me, making us both jump and ending the awkward silence. Coo-coo is approaching, looking like he’s been running for way too long.  
“I was looking everywhere for you! I realized I forgot to give you Popplio’s pokéball!”  
“…  
…Her what?” 

*  
* *

So… after a very, very long and exhausting conversation…  
Here’s what I learned today:  
\- _Popplio_ , _Rowlet_ , _Litten_ , _Yungoos_ (sneeze-face) and _Espurr_ are just a few of the whole lot of species living in this world, and they’re called _Pokémon_.  
\- _Pokémon_ are usually transported in _pokéballs_ (the orb).  
\- _Pokémon_ are all magic creatures that can do different magic things depending on their species. Something about _moves_ and _types_ , I think?  
\- Aaand this was starting to become a bit too much information for me to handle all at once so _Kukui_ told me to come see him tomorrow morning at his lab. (He didn’t tell me why.)  
(And by the way, that is how you write all these words, I asked how they were spelled.)

  
Conclusion:  
_what the heck?_


	6. Search

I didn’t see much of Iki Town in the end.  
Yeah, I think I was too focused on, oh, I don’t know, wondering _what the hell is up with this place?_  
Hau and Kukui may well insist that it’s perfectly normal, but stuff like _pokéballs_ or the whole concept of _Pokémon_ just sound like they come straight out of some video game to me. That’s their explanation as to why Espurr has laser eyes and can fly (and apparently, a ton of other species can do this too??) or why Blu can just spit a large amount of water whenever she wants, but it really doesn’t explain much.  
Guess I just have to somehow accept that I am living in a world where this is real. Yay?

They looked genuinely _concerned_ about me not knowing about all this stuff, though. I mean, if I’ve really been living next to Pokémon my whole life, I assume it _is_ concerning that I don't know shit about them even _existing_ …  
Anyway, they decided that I had way too much to learn and that they’d find a more efficient way than confusedly asking me every minute if I _really_ didn’t know about every single thing they were naming. I wonder how they’ll manage that. I hope it includes writing things down.

Oh, and I’m alone again. On… “Mahalo Trail”, if I remember correctly.  
Once we actually got to Iki Town, Hau said something about a “ka-hoo-nah” he needed to find, and Kukui told me to go check out some ruins where his assistant would probably be, so I wouldn’t stay alone while he went to do… I dunno, professor stuff, probably…  
So here I am. “Mahalo Trail” is apparently a... well, trail, leading to the ruins where the assistant presumably is. It’s a dirt road just like the one before Iki Town, except this one has big sorta hills on both sides. And it's going upwards. There are still a lot of trees and bushes and stuff like that. Along with… some weird sculpted stones here and there. I wonder if they mean anything at all.

…Good thing Blu is with me though. There are a lot of trees hiding the sun, and while the green shadows they cast on the ground are pretty, the random stones definitely help making this place look at tad ominous… 

*  
* *

_“Help! Is anyone around? Please help!”_  
Wait. Did I hear that right? Is someone in trouble? Oh god, and of course, I’m gonna have to help them or else I’ll feel really bad, haha, right? Awesome.  
Let’s just hope they’re not in _too much_ trouble…

The call is coming from the end of the trail. I can see light from here. Clutching Blu and my shoulder bag, I get closer to it; I can already distinguish something beyond the edge of the trees and bushes. It's a cliff. A cliff with a long suspension plank bridge connecting it to another cliff that's facing it.  
And someone standing next to the precipice.

Blond hair, white clothes, and a very wide-brimmed hat. They haven’t seen me yet. Seems like they’re too focused on something happening on the bridge. I try to make out what’s going on over there – but they start yelling again. It sounds like they’re crying.  
“H-hold on, Nebby! I-I’ll find a way to save you i-if no one comes!”  
Something’s being attacked. By… birds? Before I can even try to start thinking of what I should do, I feel something moving on my side. My bag.  
_It’s empty._  
“A… a Popplio? I-is anyone h-here?”  
The only thing I can see is Blu _bolting towards the bridge._  
My legs instantly start racing after her. I barely notice the stranger’s astounded face as I rush past.  
Somehow, Blu’s already far. Too far.  
She’s blasting the birds away with water.  
I fling myself forwards, trying to protect Blu from the birds. Besides her is a… frightened purple cloud. I grab it too.  
I can’t think straight. What am I doing here?

I realize one second too late that the wood I’m laying on is definitely way too old.

_Brittle._

I can feel my heartbeats pulsating through my entire body.  
The bridge cracks.

…Maybe we’re safe?  
I raise my head.

_A bird is diving straight for us._

It feels like time suddenly slows down.  
A thing in my arms is glowing warmer. And brighter. And warmer and brighter and-

The world explodes.

  
  
  
  
…I’m falling.  
Faster. And faster and faster.  
Everything blurs together.

I’m going to fucking die.

…

…Heh.

  
Something hits me and the world fades to black


	7. Well yes, but actually no

Void.  
Empty.  
But then…!

 _GAAASP!_  
Too many sensations at once…  
Air. Breathing.  
Ground. Hard.  
Face. Wet.  
Weight on chest…  
Bright light…  
Throb. Headache.

…Am I _alive?_

 _“BWARK!!”_  
…Blu?  
Slowly regaining the ability to see. Too much light… Head hurts…  
Something blue right in front of me.  
_Blu!_  
She’s clearer now. That look in her eyes… Fear… and relief?

 _“A-Are you alright?”_  
Who’s that? Holding Blu with one arm, I try to use the other to sit up.  
“OW!”  
The world spins. Headache somehow gets worse.  
“A-Ah! _I’m so sorry!_ Are you in pain?”  
I curl up into a ball, squeezing Blu in the process. I just want to sleep… And stop thinking about anything… Especially whatever the hell just happened.

…Am I crying…?  
“I-I have an Oran Berry! Do y-you think it could make you feel better?”  
That voice again. It rings a bell…  
I don't really care… I just want to cry alone…  
“…bwak…?”  
Well, maybe not _completely_ alone… Hugging Blu is nice.

 _“Mrrrr-ow?”_  
Wait, what was that? It wasn't Espurr for sure.  
My eyes are all watery – and my clothes are still wet… was it Blu trying to wake me up? – but I can discern a towering yellow silhouette.  
I can't help but start to recoil as I blink and try to wipe the tears away.  
Is it… a _cat??_

“WHAT IS THAT.”  
“I-I am not completely sure yet but it's the Pokémon who saved you all from the b-bridge…”  
Briefly turning my head towards the voice, I recognize the person who was yelling earlier. They're… I'm not quite sure what they're holding but we have more important matters at hand. The huge _bipedal_ yellow and black cat is still staring at me.  
“Um. So you, huh, actually _saved me_ back there? I, um, thank… you?”  
Still staring. Oh god is this actually just an average cat but big and yellow.  
“They've been watching us from a tree since rescuing you… A-And when you started… c-crying… they came closer…”  
Could this giant cat… _be worried about me?_  
“Bawk?”  
…Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about Bl-  
“Mrrr-aow.”  
“Bawk bwark!”  
Are they _talking?_  
I- what?

“Prrrr~”  
The cat seems… satisfied? I mean, it sounds like it’s purring…  
ZZAP!  
“DID IT JUST FLY AWAY.”  
“That is what they did earlier… It sounded like… electricity?”  
Great, it's an _electric_ cat now?  
“Wait! I think I've read about such a Pokémon in a book once! A mythical electric-type species who could levitate at high speed thanks to magnetic fields! I think their name was… Zeraora.”  
_Zeraora…_ Guess I'm gonna have to keep that one in mind…

“B-by the way, I… My offer still stands… D-Do you want an Oran berry?”  
There's a… round blue fruit in the hand White-hat is holding out to me.  
…At this point I don't care much anymore about most of the minor weird stuff this world throws at me every minute.  
“I mean, okay, I guess…  
“And, um, sorry for… ignoring you earlier…”  
“Th-That's fine, don't worry about it… I'm just… glad you and Nebby aren't hurt…”  
My eyes fix upon the purple thing they're holding. It's… the frightened cloud I grabbed on the bridge?

“Is _that_ Nebby?”  
“They are… kind of supposed to be a secret… But I am no trainer, and I have to keep them hidden in this bag to protect them since they don’t really know any moves; even though they keep getting out of it…”  
So… a runaway blue-and-purple cloud. Are they a _Pokémon_ too?  
“I-I was very w-worried when they w-were attacked by these Spearow… L-Last time Nebby used their powers, to save _me_ , they couldn't move at all for a few d-”  
“ _Wait._ Powers? What _kind_ of powers? Did… _do you mean the explosion?_ ”  
“Y-Yes-”  
I instinctively take a step backwards. _This_ is what made the bridge blow up _which resulted in me and Blu almost dying?_

Seems like the feeling of dread that I was just filled with is showing up on my face because White-hat instantly looks _panic-stricken_.  
“I-I! They’re- _they’re very sorry about that!_ ”  
I stare at the cloud.  
It is kinda cute. And somehow looks… sad? Almost as if it really _were_ sorry.

I’m… not sure if I completely trust it though.  
I _mean,_ I didn’t actually _die_ (I think), but it wasn’t a very… _pleasant_ experience…

White-hat sighs. They seem even sorrier than the cloud.  
“L-Listen, I… I feel very bad asking you this after w-what just happened, but… I saw your Popplio could f-fight and… D-Do you think you two could escort us back to Iki Town? I’m afraid that more Pokémon c-could attack us…”  
…I’m not against leaving this place, to be honest. I absolutely refuse to let my eyes wander in the direction of the chasm beside us and I… just really feel like getting the _fuck_ away from here.  
“I guess we could… Just make sure that… _Nebby_ … doesn’t… explode again?”  
Nodding frantically, White-hat immediately proceeds to lecture “Nebby” into going back in their bag, and we set off on Mahalo Trail.


	8. Carry on, as if nothing really matters

“Milza! Here you are!”

That was Hau. We literally just got out of the trail and he’s already spotted us. How long has he been waiting? _How long have I been d- unconscious?_  
…Oh, there’s someone else beside him.  
It's a dark-skinned seemingly old person. With blue and yellow clothes.

“Oy, Hau! Would that be the young person you were telling me about?”  
“Sure is! Oh, and Lillie is here too! Hi Lillie!!”  
Lillie? Oh, is that White-hat?  
…Anyway, seems like I won't escape from this conversation. Great.

“Milza! Is everything okay?”  
Huh- what? Hau?  
“You haven't heard a word in all I just said, have you?”  
…Guess not.  
“…Oh. Sorry.”  
Why does he look so concerned?  
“Did anything happen??”  
“ _Naah, nothing, really!_ Some _flying_ electric CAT apparently just _saved me_ from DEATH! As you can see I am _perfectly_ FINE and was absolutely NOT _terrified_ by this _wonderful_ experience!”  
I think I just said that out loud-  
I just… I just want to get away from here- 

*  
* *

Guess what. I’m crying.  
Again.  
_Why?_ Why am I _always_ CRYING every _single time_ something even slightly upsetting happens?  
I mean- Almost dying probably isn’t- But it was probably a bit rude yelling like that, right…? But I almost- Even if I didn't _actually-_  
Like-- that moment, that single moment when I realized I was gonna just… _die…_ and I- I _accepted_ it! I don't _want_ to die! What the heck happened then? That’s-- scary! I was _okay_ with dying! I- There's probably not much keeping me here if I don't have any memories, but… I still don't want to…  
I just- I just want to know _why_ I’m here! And _where_ is here! _Why_ do I not know about all the _freaky magic stuff_ everywhere? Even if I had lost memory of my past I would still know about _that,_ right? …Right?  
Am I even amnesiac anyway? It just… _feels_ like I’m not where I'm supposed to be! But if I don’t remember _shit,_ why do I know _that?_ And why do a few things seem… familiar? And why do people _know_ me?

What the fuck did I do to deserve this?  
Well, _too bad,_ I don’t remember shit, so guess I’ll _never know!_

…What am I even gonna do _right now?_  
I can't just- go back there-  
They're gonna look for me, aren't they?  
What am I even going to say? “Sorry I yelled please let's just forget this happened?”  
_Sigh_. Good fucking job, me. Congrats. You just screamed at people and now you're hiding in some stupid bushes. How _truly_ ama-  
“Milza?”

Freeze.  
Is that Hau? Did he see me?

“Milza, are you there?”  
No I'm not- I'm not here- please don't come any closer-  
Why am I breathing so _loudly?_

…

…I don't think he saw me. I heard his voice coming from further away.  
As I try to stay as hidden as possible while getting up, though, I notice something missing. A weight by my side.  
Blu.

…I didn't even _feel_ her getting out! Where could she be now? Why would she--  
Wow.  
…I really got attached quickly, didn't I?  
Heh.  
She probably left by herself anyway… Why would she want to stay with _me?_ She must've realized choosing to be by my side was a mistake… I'm no good at shit. She just… only now understood it. 

*  
* *

What's wrong with me?  
Wish I knew.  
At least the grass feels nice on my cheek. Almost soft.  
To be honest, I didn't think curling up in a ball on the ground after getting even further from the road would really calm me down. I'm not even crying anymore. But that may just be because I ran out of tears.  
I'm not sure what my feelings are at the moment. They kinda seem like a big mess that decided it was time to cool down for a bit. I'm just… feeling nothing.

_“Wue?”_  
What now… Can’t I just be alone? The heck does this kind of noise anyway?  
_“Wue woop?”_  
It’s coming from behind me… I wonder if it’s a magical… _Pokémon…_ thing… I don’t want to move… Let’s just hope it doesn’t explode in my face, then, I guess…  
_snif snif?_  
It’s climbing on my back. It feels very light and small.  
And it... falls headfirst on the grass in front of me.

“Wuuue…”  
It’s… a bunny. I think. Brown and yellow. Are _all_ the Pokémon cute or what?  
It doesn’t look agressive. It’s just looking at me inquisitively. I wonder what kind of superpower it’s got.  
“hi there, lil’ bunny… whatcha doin here?”  
It stares at me, looks sad for a second, then points at me and tilts its head.  
“…why i was sad? it’s kind of a long story… but you shouldn’t bother with me anyway… i’m probably not worth your time…”  
A few seconds pass by. I wonder what it’s thinking about. Why is it not leaving, though?

Then it suddenly _slips in between my arms and snuggles under my chin._  
“ _Wh-_ what? I mean, um, thanks, I guess?? Whatever you wanna do…”  
_“Woop woop!”_  
…Welp. Guess I can't move anymore.

Eyes closed. Half-asleep. Bunny is making a "hzz hzz" noise.  
Sounds like something is approaching. I hear… no, that can't be right… I must be dreaming…  
But then… A weight on my legs. Warm and soft. A purr.  
Another thing on my neck, too… Warm and wet.  
And one single sound, one single noise that means so much.

“…bwark.”


	9. Can you believe it's only been one day

I can hear footsteps. Human footsteps?  
I think they're coming closer. I'm still lying on the ground. Eyes closed, just listening. I don't even care if someone finds me anymore.

The footsteps are gone. I feel like I heard a quiet "oh" but it was probably nothing.  
_Sigh_. As comfy as this is, maybe I should get up now.  
I can't just grow roots here forever, can I?

Unsurprisingly, moving results in disapproval from those who were installed on me.  
“Sorry, guys… Should've let you know I was gonna move beforehand...”  
They don't look very resentful. As I had guessed, now staring at me are Espurr, the bunny, and… Blu.  
“Hey there, you two.  
“…Blu…  
“Why did you come back?”  
She seems… perplexed? Then, with a _“I thought it was obvious”_ kind of look, she points her nose at Espurr, and at me.  
“…Did you… Were you just… bringing Espurr? Were you just trying to get help?”  
She nods.  
_She wasn't- She just-_  
…Oh god, I feel stupid now. Heh. It feels like a huge weight has instantly been taken away from my shoulders.  
My nose starts to tingle slightly… my eyes are trying to cry again. With a sigh – and… a smile? – I push the tears away and face the other two critters.  
“Espurr… I… Thanks for coming.”  
“Meow~”

“And now- you… the bunny?”  
Seems like it understood who I was talking about. They really _do_ get everything I say, don't they?  
“I… Okay, firstly. What should I use for you? They… he… she?”  
“Woop woop!”  
“She, you too? Okay then. And, while I’m at it… Espurr? What about _you?_ ”  
They stare at me. I suddenly realize I didn’t give them anything to reply to, but their eyes glow briefly and I feel… _something_ in my head for a second.  
“…H-He? Wait, can you _talk?_ ”  
Indescribable stare. Apparently, if he _can_ talk by telepathy or something, he doesn’t do it often.  
“…Welp, okay, keep your secrets I guess.  
“Bunny… do you have a name?”  
Headshake.  
“Do you… want me to give you one?”  
Nod. I’m… having a strong feeling of déjà vu.  
“… _Sigh_. Okay, let’s see…  
“A bunny… hmm… I’m… thinking of cinnamon for some reason. Cinnamon… bun? or bunny? Well, both seem fitting, especially with how your right ear is twisted… How do you feel about the name Cinnamon?”  
“Wuuue wue wue!!”  
That… seems exceedingly happy, but okay. Cinnamon it is.  
Heh, I like that. It’s cute.

“…Wait, what am I supposed to do with you now that I gave you a name?”  
In response, Cinnamon hops towards me, falls on her face again, gets back up immediately, and… hugs me?  
“Do you… _do you want to stay with me too??_ ”  
“Wue!!”  
Oh god. I have a seal and a bunny now. How does this keep happening?

  
“…Milza?”  
_A-_  
“WH- ohmygodwhatwasthat?”  
I just got startled so hard I almost jumped-  
After swiftly getting up and glancing behind me, I notice Hau and Lillie staring at me from a few steps away. My heart's intense pulsing against my rib cage starts to calm down.  
“Geez it's just- you took me by surprise-”  
That's all I manage to say before my brain reminds me of what happened the last time I was with them.  
Right before I ran off.

Lillie looks as intimidated as me when I have to talk to pretty much anyone. Hau is just... a mix of concerned and relieved? And… happy.  
“Milza, it _is_ you! I'm so glad Lillie found you! Gramps was starting to get worried!”  
I bite my lip. I don't know what to say. Lillie breaks the silence.  
“I-I told them w-what happened… on the b-bridge…”  
Ah. Well. At least _I_ don't have to tell them.  
And since I'm still not saying anything, Hau starts talking again:  
“Is it true that you met _Zeraora?_ That's so _cool!_ Oh, and, your mom is worried too. We had to tell h-”  
_“Wuue?”_  
That's Cinnamon. She's tugging on my leg.  
“Oh, Cinnamon, what is it?”  
Blu jumps on my shoulders right as I crouch to take Cinnamon in my hands. It makes me totter slightly but I still manage to get back up.  
“…Are you wondering who they are?”  
That's what I thought. She's staring at Hau and Lillie.  
“Oooh! Did you find a Buneary?? That's awesome! OOH and what kind of Pokémon is that one??”  
Which one? Ah, Espurr? He just jumped on a rock nearby. I guess he was hidden by the bush before. Lillie is faster than me to talk once more.  
“I-I think that's an Espurr… It's a Psychic type…”  
_An_ Espurr? Is that his _species?_ Is he _literally_ named “Cat”??  
“Woaaah, that's so cool! Where did you find him?”  
“I- he's not… mine. I think he's with… Ellaine.”  
“Ellaine? Oh, you mean your mom? And that reminds me we gotta go see her! She's been waiting for us!”  
_Sigh_.  
“Alright… I guess…”  
Can't really hide here forever anyway…  
Blu and Cinnamon still respectively on my shoulder and in my arms, I reluctantly join Hau and Lillie. Cinnamon looks at them and then at me inquisitively.  
“Oh, don't worry, Cinnamon… I'm… pretty sure they're friendly.” 

*  
* *

I'm in the pink bedroom. Lying in my bed for the third time. At least that I can remember.  
The quick trip back to the house went pretty smoothly. Once we arrived, however…  
Every person was… pretty much a different kind of mess. What with my sudden disappearance, and the “troubling” stuff I had said relatively shortly before running off…  
Ellaine was... well, she quite literally _seized_ me the moment I entered the living room. I was lucky she didn't completely squeeze Cinnamon in the process. She almost got mad at me but apparently decided she was happier to see me than angry at me for… putting myself in danger or something?  
She really does react like a mother. Too bad I still don't feel like I know her at all.  
The dark-skinned person with blue and yellow clothes from before (the _ka-hoo-nah_ apparently) looked relieved too, although more stoically than Ellaine. I don't remember everything he told me, but I do remember that he had something to give me when I'd be feeling better. Also something about me already having two “Pokémon”, I think.  
Kukui didn't stay for long but told me he had something to help my apparent amnesia and that it'd be ready tomorrow.

And… further on Ellaine definitely acting like a mom…  
After giving food to all three Pokémon who were with me, she… gave me probably one of the longest hugs ever. She told me that she was sorry she thought I was joking about not remembering stuff. And that whatever I had forgotten, she'd do her best to help me learn it again. Whether I remembered anything about her or not.  
And after giving me some weird red fruit to eat, she basically sent me to sleep early.

I'm… not sure what to think, to be honest. Right now the whole critter trio is sleeping with me again. I… think I'm happy I'm not alone. And it seems like I'm gonna have a whole lot of people helping me understand all that magical mess about “Pokémon”…  
Heh…

Maybe it's not _that_ bad, after all?


	10. Are we finally moving forward

I can't move.  
I'm sitting on a cardboard box in the small veranda on the side of the house, and I currently have… a bunny and a cat on my lap as well as a seal and an owl on my shoulders.  
Well, okay, this probably isn't one of the worst situations to be in.  
Even though my arms are starting to grow a bit tired from all the petting. But I guess it does feel nice to have some time to breathe after the mess that was yesterday. I would've gone to see Kukui or the kahoo guy but I don't know where they are, so…  
And the view I have of the sea is, like, super nice.

_Wha-_  
Feels like… I was dozing off, but something woke me up. A weird sensation… like I'm being watched? But there's no one ar-  
Eyes.  
_Glowing orange eyes in the bushes._

“H-Hello?”  
Lillie…? Oh, the eyes are gone now. The fuck was that?  
“Lillie, I'm over h-!”  
_Oh heck_ I moved now Blu's falling and I woke up Cinnamon and Espurr while trying to catch her and now Rowlet's hooting because they're confused and-  
“Oh, Milza, are you here? I hope I'm n-not bothering… y-you?”  
“Nope don't worry no problem at all- hey guys _I'm sorry_ I didn't mean to move oh my god-  
“Um. So, huh, what's… going on?”  
“I… Kukui just sent me to show you the way to his lab… i-if that's alright with you, of course…”  
Oh, that makes sense.  
…I hope his thing works.  
“Coming in a minute!”

“Where are you going?”  
Oh, right, Ellaine's here.  
“Huh, Lillie is gonna take me to Kukui's lab or something. He said he thought he could help? And apparently Blu and Cinnamon want to come too…”  
“Alright. Don't forget to tell me how it went, okay?”  
“Yeah-”  
Oh, she's hugging me again.

“ _Aand here I am_ I hope I didn't take too long.”  
“O-oh no, it's fine. Just follow me, the lab is this w-way…”  
We go to the right, and through the fence gate. There's some people around.  
Oh, a… _bird?_ There's a white bird over there. And… the heck is _that_ pink thing?  
“Th-those are wild Wingull and Slowpokes.”  
“Oh. Thanks.”  
More weird creatures, yay. She didn't tell me which one was which so I guess I'll just call them stripe-bird and pink thingy-

_Ow!_  
I just tripped on something- Lillie catches me just in time.  
“A-Are you alright??”  
“Yes, thanks to you no one fell- but what did I almost step on?”  
I turn around to look. It's a… _huh…_ pink squid? pink and dark blue? I think it's laying face down.  
“Huuh… is it okay? What's a squid doing on the ground, don't they live in water?”  
“I think that is an Inkay… They don't live specifically in the seas.  
“She seems asleep… we could move her to the side of the road so that she isn't in the way anymore…”  
Like… by carrying it? It looks… squishy.  
“So we can touch it?”  
“Oh, yes, th-there is no problem with that!”  
I move my finger carefully towards the pink squid-blob. And the moment I reach it-  
_“Woom?”_  
It… wakes up? 

*  
* *

“ _That's_ the lab?”  
We've just managed to make the… _Inkay_ calm down. Immediately after waking up, it just started to _fly everywhere_ for no apparent reason.  
And now that it went back wherever it lived, we're standing in front of… Kukui's _lab,_ apparently.  
“Y-Yes… Kukui keeps, er, studying moves by making his Pokémon use them on him… And this house was… d-definitely not made for that…”  
Well, I can see that. It seems impossible to find some part of that building that isn't either broken or has apparently been fixed in a rudimentary way.  
Also, wait. Using moves on _himself?_ That… doesn't sound very healthy?  
“B-But he was kind enough to r-rent me his loft… S-So I try to help him all I-I can…”  
_BOOM!  
“Good job, Rockruff! Do it again!”_  
“Oh no, he must be practicing! W-We should probably get in before he breaks something-”

“Oy, Lillie, Milza, Alola! I'm glad you could come!”  
To be honest, apart from maybe the aquarium in the back, that still doesn’t look much like a lab. It’s just a cozy house.  
“Stay here with Rockruff for a second, I’ll be right back!”  
Rockruff? Oh, he’s already gone downstairs. Did he mean the brown dog? Jesus, how many of them are there?  
…Are these _swimming pink hearts_ in that aquarium?

“Here we co- oh, the Luvdisc interestin' ya?”  
“I mean _look at them,_ they're just _pink hearts with eyes??_ ”  
“Hehe. Might wanna turn around now, cousin!”  
“I'm not your- oh what is _that_ now?”  
Kukui is holding out to me some kind of weird-looking… tablet? It's red with a black screen and a strange shape.  
“This, is a Pokédex!”  
Oh come on, a _what?_  
“It's very useful for any kind of Pokémon journey, containing info and even apps to help you get around! And this isn't just any Pokédex. It's _a…_ ”  
…He strikes a pose. Nothing happens.  
“Ah, c'mon, you don't wanna make a dramatic entrance?”  
He takes one step to the left… revealing what was behind him.  
A… tiny, flying, electric, pointy thing with a face?


	11. So much to learn still

“Say hi to this Rotom! She is an electric-ghost type Pokémon, and will help you by… _possessing your Pokédex!_ ”  
By _what?_ And a _what_ type?  
Another silent gap. Kukui brings the red tablet closer to the “Rotom” and stares at it intensely.  
A few seconds pass before the creature probably realizes she was supposed to do something, even though she doesn't seem that happy about it. She touches the “Pokédex” and, with a quiet electric _zap_ … literally _fuses with it??_  
Now the red became closer to the gold color of the “Rotom”, the shape of the tablet is somehow different and… _it has a face_.

“Wh… what?”  
“Bwark!!”  
“Right? It's always impressive the first time you see it!”  
The… _fusion_ comes floating towards me. I can't help but stare at it. Cinnamon approaches her head carefully and sniffs.  
“We call this a _Rotom Dex!_ It can connect with your pokéballs like regular Pokédexes, but you don't need to charge it _at all_ since there's an electric type inside, and it's been built specifically for the Rotom to be able to control the device completely and _actually talk to the user!_ ”

“So… huuuh…  
“…Are you giving me this?”  
“Sure am! I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for you to have a sentient Dex since you've got, you know, amnesia.”  
He looks very happy about it.  
“And… is the Pokémon inside okay with it?”  
…Is it me or did he hesitate for a second?  
“She is! I mean, she's kind of the only Rotom I have right now… but I managed to convince her to stay with you!”  
Convince? I hope she doesn't dislike me too much.  
“Well… thanks.”

_“Heya what did I miss??”_  
The door just got flung open. All heads turn to it, including the Pokémon. It's Hau.  
“Oh, was I interrupting something? Sorry!”  
Blu bwarks happily in his direction while Kukui giggles.  
“Everything's fine, cousin! Milza was just meeting her new Rotom Dex!”  
“Woaah! _A real one?_ So cool!! And hi Lillie!”  
“Oh... hi.”  
She's been so quiet I had almost forgotten about her… Hau is somehow already right next to us.  
“Soo when are we starting our island challenge?”

“Wait a second- our _what?_ ”  
Can't I just have a moment so I can at least try to learn all the darn stuff I don't know about??  
“How do you _not know_ about the-- oh, yeah, right. Sorry.”  
_Sigh_. Fortunately for Hau, Kukui comes to help.  
“Alola, the region we're in, is made of four islands! Each has a number of trials, most of the time overseen by Trial Captains. When you've beaten all the trials of an island, you can try to pass the grand trial, which is a Pokémon battle against the island's kahuna! And the island challenge consists of completing all the islands!”

Oookay. Pretty sure I didn't get everything, but whatever.  
“And… why would one want to do the island challenge?”  
It just… kinda sounds like an unnecessarily complicated thing to go through?  
“It's a rite of passage for young Pokémon trainers here! Most people at least try a few.”  
“And what does… wait. I feel like I'm gonna have a _lot_ of questions, can we sit down?” 

*  
* *

“So.  
“Pokémon trainers catch Pokémon with pokéballs and have friendly battles with them.  
“Pokéballs are like virtual little homes with _somehow_ automatically adequate environment for the Pokémon inside.  
“People can also just live with Pokémon and they can do that without pokéballs.  
“Pokémon and their trainers bond together and get to know each other when battling. Pokémon get stronger and depending on their species they can “evolve” which means getting a new look and usually more power.  
“If I forget about any of this, Rotom Dex is here to remind me.  
“…Aand I'm supposed to be doing the island challenge. Is that it?”

Kukui nods. We're all sitting on the long green couch, Blu and Cinnamon resting on my legs. I've been getting a lot of information thrown at me so far.  
“But only if you want to!!”  
Hau is on my left, his backpack next to him.  
“ _I mean,_ it'll be super fun and we'll get super strong and stuff, but we can't force you!”  
Kukui thinks for a second.  
“Although… the island challenge can be a good way to discover the region, and even things about yourself. Maybe it could help you remember a few things? You never know what could trigger memories.”  
Hmm. He kinda has a point, I guess.  
_Sigh_. “So, it's like… we travel everywhere and… make our Pokémon fight other Pokémon?”  
“Yeah!!” Hau seems very excited about this. “So then you can be one of the island challenge champions!”

“…Blu, Cinnamon?”  
The seal is instantly fully awake and looking at me. The bunny seems a little more sleepy, but still paying attention.  
“Would you… um… like to do that island challenge thing?”  
“Aren't they already your-”  
“Bwark _bwark!!_ ”  
…I think I can say that's a yes from Blu. Hau seems confused, but stays quiet. I look at Cinnamon. She takes a moment to think, then glances at Blu before turning to me. She seems to have taken her decision.  
“Woop woop!”  
…And then she hugs me. _Is that a yes as well?_ For real?

“ _Woohoo!_ Now professor, I just need a pokédex from you and also I think we need trainer passports?”  
Hau is very, _very_ excited about this, apparently. He just sprang up from the couch and almost followed Kukui downstairs. Had it been planned for me to do this thing at the same time as him? As in… before I got amnesia?  
I didn't even have time to mention something quite important. Fortunately, the professor's already back with a slightly less weird looking tablet and two small booklets. I put Blu and Cinnamon aside before standing up as well and staring at him and Hau.  
“Wait. I don't even _know_ how to battle yet!”


	12. We make more progress, I think

It feels weird not to feel the weight of Blu on my shoulder. And to hold two small orbs instead of Cinnamon.  
I may well know that they're still here, and that letting them stay in these is allowing them to rest, it still feels weird. I've still got company since the Rotom is following me closely, but… it's just not the same. And neither of us are very talkative… We haven't said anything since we left the lab. And I'm very bad at starting conversations in awkward situations.

…There's something else, though. A feeling I… already know?  
Wait- _the orange eyes are here again._

I blink- they're gone.  
Am I seeing things? That's _just_ my _damn_ luck.

Of course, I'm already regretting my decision to try out that island challenge. I'm almost hoping Ellaine won't be okay with signing the filled out trainer passport and will force me to stay. I know Kukui and Hau suggested they teach me the very bases of battling before we go check out the Trainers' School so I can practice, and I know Blu and Cinnamon agreed to this… But I guess it just seems… _scary_.  
It's just such a huge thing to do! And I'm gonna have to travel alone? I mean, not _alone,_ but still…  
I'm gonna have to work with my social anxiety and actually talk to people, heh? Oh boy, now _that's_ gonna be _fun_.

_BZzzt!_  
What was that?  
The Rotom Dex shows up in front of me. Its (her?) screen is filled with some sort of information sheet, like those that showed up when we registered Blu and Cinnamon's pokéballs. It's titled “Inkay”.  
…Inkay?

_Splat!_  
Ow- some gooey thing just hit the back of my head?? And I dropped the pokéballs-  
_“Uwaaaw…”_  
That came from behind me. While trying to rub my sore neck, my finger slips as I quickly pick up the balls and I accidentally click the button of one of them – right as I turn around to see what hit me.  
It's… the squid thing from earlier. The Inkay.

“Woop?”  
Oh, so it's Cinnamon I released! The Inkay, of course, immediately notices her – and rushes to her side while letting out a few _“woomy”_ s-  
“H-hey _wait up-_ ”  
Cinnamon is looking as confused as me. But before I can add anything, the pink squid--  
…collides with the bunny's pokéball.

“ _Bway?_ ”  
What the heck is it doing?  
It just keeps bumping into the orb, as if it was waiting for something to happen. As I try to reach for the ball, it almost slaps my hand- but Cinnamon jumps in just in time to stop it.  
_Oh geez no- are they gonna fight or something--_

“ _Wait!_ Do you just want- oh _come on,_ I know they're in this fuckin bag somewhere, _Kukui gave me like ten-_ here we go!”  
Crouching next to the Inkay, I show it one of the brand new pokéballs from my bag. Maybe it just wanted to play with i-  
_click!_

[New Pokémon registered: Inkay]  
How does this Rotom keep appearing right next to me?? But wait- that message on the screen- did it just--  
[Enter nickname?]  
…Welp.

_Pwoosh~_  
“Gwooby?”  
Somehow managed to get the Inkay back out on the first try. It seems… puzzled, but not scared at all?  
“Hey, um, Inkay?”  
It turns to me. At least it seems so understand what I say as well.  
“…Where do I even start… Did you… _want_ to be caught?”  
Head tilt. What does that even mean?  
“Do you want… to stay in the pokéball?”  
“Woomy!”  
…Jesus fuckin Christ, am I getting a _third one?_

[Enter nickname?]  
It looks like the Dex's screen hasn't moved at all. I hope the Rotom isn't getting tired…  
_Sigh_. “Inkay… do you want a name?”

  
[Nickname confirmation: Ayo]  
[>Yes No]  
Seems like we have a new… team member?

  
“H-hey, um, Rotom?”  
I finally managed to blurt this out. We're almost at the house now.  
The Rotom stops without looking at me.  
“I- I know you haven't said much yet, but… I guess I… wanted to thank you, for trying to warn me earlier?”  
Silence. It feels like the sound of birds squawking and waves crashing on the sand in the background just got inaudibly louder.  
The next line's gonna be difficult to say.  
“A-And… “Rotom” is your species, right?  
“Do you… do you have a name?”

…A few seconds pass.  
She turns around.

[Loading…]  
[Welcome to the beginning of the chat.]

[melga - Today at 11:41 AM]  
i do 

*  
* *

“And she doesn't move anymore, you say?”  
Ellaine is inspecting the Dex closely. After pretty much immediately encouraging me to take on the island challenge and congratulating me on making yet another Pokémon friend, I asked for help about the Rotom Dex, letting Blu and Cinnamon meet Ayo – with Espurr and Rowlet quickly joining them, of course.  
Melga hasn't said anything since telling me her name. I mean, technically, she's never _said_ anything since Kukui entrusted me with her – or her with me? But right now… she might as well not be here at all.  
“No… since she flew into my bag, it's been as if she were gone… but the Dex still looks the same, so she has to be in it, right?”

“Well… it seems to me like your Rotom is just… sleeping, in a way. Everything still works, and she's still possessing that Pokédex, just… not doing anything.”  
Ellaine hands it back to me. I haven't told her Melga's name. The chat that was opened somehow disappeared, and… it kinda feels like, if she's let no one but me know it so far… sharing it would be breaking that glimpse of trust we've got right now.

I hope I didn't do anything wrong…


	13. A pleasing development, no?

I never thought I'd get attached to these weird little creatures so quickly… But here we are, I guess. To be honest, I also didn't think so many of them would _join me_ so quickly.

_Thud!_  
“…Cinnamon, this is the third time you've tried to sneak up on me. These sandwiches aren't for you, you know? You have the… _berry_ thingies.”  
Promptly getting her face off the ground, she slowly backs away, looking slightly discouraged. I hope she doesn't try again. She actually almost got me the first time, and I don't know if I'm actually gonna be able to resist her… Ellaine made these sandwiches for lunch, but Cinnamon is _very_ cute.

I hope the others aren't gonna take too long, though. I'm trying very hard not to let myself get too anxious, but my brain is probably going to find a way eventually. I think keeping everyone out of their orbs has helped, though. I'm still kind of worried about Melga – I left the Dex in my bag since there's still no sign of her – but I gotta say watching three cute critters play together is… relaxing, somehow?

Still, I wonder why they'd want to stay with me specifically.  
Or why Melga keeps sending mixed messages.  
Or why the others still haven't arrived.  
Am I waiting in the wrong place?  
And _there we go,_ now I'm just going to keep wondering if I should rather move or stay here-

_Pew!_  
What--  
Oh! It's the purple cloud??  
“Bwark??”  
When did I stand up-  
Anyway, Blu seems to have calmed down after seeing who it was… but I _ain't_ getting my eyes off that cloud. I… yeah, I still don't trust it.  
“It's alright, Blu. Or I hope it is… That's just-”  
_“Nebby!!”_

Oh, here they come. That's Lillie running over here. And… yes, that's Kukui too!  
“Nebby, what did I tell you about staying in the bag? We can't risk you getting caught! O-Or worse!”  
Ow, I feel kinda sorry for her. It sounds like that's not the first time “Nebby” has gotten out of that bag… probably doesn't help the whole “keeping it a secret” thing.  
“Oh, Milza, I must apologize! I hope Nebby didn't scare you, I keep telling them to stay hidden but they keep sneaking out…”  
“Huh, it's… it's fine- to be honest, I'm impressed you've managed to keep them a secret if they get out all the time.”

With the cloud back in the bag, Kukui's reached us. He immediately notices Ayo, but before he can say anything-  
“ _Hey there_ I brought my Gramps because he said he wanted to give Milza something!! Oh, everyone's already there? Oh is that an Inkay??”  
…Yep, that's Hau. He's got someone else with him – the _kahuna,_ I think. Ayo is already happily nyooming around them both, of course…

“Have you already gotten a _third_ Pokémon? Woah congrats!!  
“Aww look at her, she's so cute. Well, I don't have _three_ yet myself, but _look at that!!_ ”  
Hau suddenly opens his backpack – while somehow keeping it on his back – and one… no, _two_ rays of light come out of it, like quick shiny snakes that instantly rush to the ground, growing larger until…

“So you already know Leo… But now I have Puffle too!”  
A… yellow… mouse… thing? With brown markings. Okay. One more for the list of the cute ones, I guess.  
“Hehe, good job again, Hau! But I won’t stay with you lot for too long.”  
That was… the old guy – sorry, yes, the kahuna or something. Oh gosh, he’s looking at me now, what did I-  
“So hey, Milza, right?”  
…Yeah?  
“I’m very sorry about… you know, what happened yesterday. We should’ve fixed that bridge earlier.  
“But rushing to go help an unknown and defenseless ‘mon like that? Twas pretty remarkable of you, I gotta say. And that’s why I think you should have this!”

“…So I get a cool shiny rock?”  
No like, seriously, it _does_ look pretty fuckin cool. It's like black and white but it's sorta sparkling with a whole lot of other colors? I wonder what the heck kinda rock that is.  
“Haha, yes! You've proven worthy of this Z gem. It will help channel you and your Pokémon's energy to unleash the power of the Z crystals you'll find during your challenge!”  
O… kay? Yeah I'm gonna have to ask for more details on that later. Let's just take the pendant for now.  
It looks really, really cool, not gonna lie. And it feels… warm? 

*  
* *

“They _broke_ a plant pot? Oh geez, it wasn’t too precious, right?”  
Hau casts a quick glance at Ayo between two bites into his sandwich. She’s currently sleeping on Blu, which I don’t know whether it’s surprising or not, considering how fast she’s been goofing around everyone.  
“Oh no, huh… I think it was fine? But I guess I’m really gonna have to watch these two closely…”  
I’m… happy they’re getting along, though. Cinnamon and Puffle seem to be already friends as well…

  
“Alright! These sandwiches were super good, but I think we’re ready to start our little lesson before we go check out that school, am I right?”  
Hau is way too excited by Kukui’s announcement. I’m… nervous now, of course.  
And Lillie… hey how is Lillie doing?  
She’s just slightly clutching her bag. Our eyes meet – I try a quick, clumsy smile – and… she smiles back.  
Hope she’s okay, I feel like I know what it is to be quiet with no one talking to you…  
Not that I’d know how to even start a conversation with her at all…

“Heyy there Milz, you drifting off?”  
Wha- oh whoops Kukui was talking.  
“Oh, huh-- sorry, what were you saying?”  
“Well, I was wondering where we should even start-”

_My bag!_ It’s suddenly moving- wait--  
Melga comes out of it?  
She’s just… floating above us. Her eyes are opened- but they somehow feel still and emotionless. And on her screen… is that some kind of _chart?_  
“Ooh, the _type matchups!_ That's a good idea, Rotom!”


	14. Do I get homework

“Well I'm happy to hear that things are going well with your Rotom.  
“…To be honest, I-- _oh wouldya look at that,_ we're there!”

…I have to admit that this school looks smaller than what I imagined. Not that it makes me any less nervous about it. Everything just seems way too intimidating when you haven't got any memories, apparently.  
“…So we'll check out that… big, red, “Pokémon center” building later, right?”  
“Oh yeah, of course! Lillie's got enough stuff to heal whatever damage your team may get – and you already gotta remember everything we just told you!”

…Yeah that's a good point. Even if Melga seems to be… “alive” again, she's just acting like a lifeless floating Dex, doing nothing but showing info on her screen. It's… a bit weird, but unfortunately I am very _very_ bad at trying to make friends with people, especially if they ain't interacting back.

  
“Alright, Milza, this is Emily. She's a teacher here, she got a bunch of her students to wait all over the place! All you'll have to do is finding and challenging them.”  
Before I can ask any of the questions that instantly filled my mind, Emily speaks as well.  
“Don't worry about your knowledge level, Kukui filled me in. They will all be careful, and will probably teach you a few more things!”  
That seems… okay. I guess practice is helpful.

“Good luck Milza you'll do great!! We'll stay here with Kukui to wait for you!”  
How Hau manages to be so fired up all the time is still a mystery to me. But wait, I gotta do this alone? I mean, of course, it makes sense, but--  
“Can… can I not go alone?  
“……please?”  
For once, Lillie is the first to answer.  
“I-I suppose I could… tag along? This way, I c-could heal your team more easily…”

  
Flash of light. Still can't get over the fact that pokéballs are a thing that exists.  
And my first opponent is… a small tree. With a face, _of course_.  
“Oh, is that one of the, huh,, plant… type?”  
“Do you mean grass?”  
“…Yeah, that. Thanks Lillie.”  
Welp, we're starting well I see. Ugh, and there are _eighteen_ of these.

_Bzzt!_  
“Wha…?”  
[Pokémon scanned: Bonsly]  
[Rock type]  
“…You mean… _it's not even a Grass type?_ It's a _TREE,_ dammit!!”

  
“So wait, let me recap. I chose Blu to fight the tree that was actually a rock because she's Water and that's strong against rocks. And then instead of using “Water Gun” like before, she used “Aqua Jet”, and that's a good thing because it's better?”  
Lillie nods in response. Ok that's good.  
And now, where would the next trainer be--

“OH!”  
“W-What is it?”  
“There's like a _huge_ cat over there–  
“Aw crap it's gone.”  
I've ran up to the tall grass where it was. Lillie joins me. There's no sign of it anywhere but I _swear_ I saw something… come on…  
“I-if I am not mistaken, I believe you can meet a lot of Meowth around here, but I would not call them _huge-_ ”  
I would've liked to know more about that, but suddenly a kid's shout comes from a spot in the grass a bit further away.  
_“Helloooo over theeeere is one of you the person I gotta fight because I know I shouldn't help you find me but I feel a little bit bored of waiting in the middle of the grass!!”_

*  
* *

The Rowlet sends glowing leaves again. I'm lucky Ayo isn't weak to plants… But this time, she gets knocked back harder. _What?_ Why? I hope this ends quickly.  
“Try, uh, _Peck_ again!”  
With newfound energy, she dives towards the owl--  
…And… I think we won?

  
“Milza how did you dooooo? Even though I'm sure you did great!!”  
Hau, oh my gosh.  
“She did indeed do great!”  
That's the teacher. I have to admit I got a little scared when she asked to battle me herself after her three students, but she let me check all the type advantages and everything. I really hope Melga will keep on helping me, because I have a feeling I'll never see the end of all the stuff I have yet to learn —and remember properly… At this point I feel I won't even mind it that much if she never communicates with me again.

“…Well, Milza, I can leave you with Hau and Lillie to explore the city, then?”  
What? Oh, I fell out of the conversation. (unsurprisingly)  
“Wait, isn't Ellaine gonna be waiting for me or something?”  
“Don't worry! You can can just send her a message on Giratinapp.”  
“…On _what…?_ ” 

*  
* *

[Welcome to the beginning of the chat.]

[moonpie - Today at 4:02 PM]  
Hi, Ellaine? This is Milza. I just created this account.  
Kukui told me this was you… So, I hope it is.  
I wanted to tell you that Hau and Lillie want to make me visit Hau'oli city, so I am not coming back just yet.

I keep staring at that message. It's probably not got the best wording, but I don't want to make the others wait for too long.  
I check her profile again.

[Lainergie#3674]

According to the profile picture —a cute pic of a Rowlet and an Espurr sleeping on each other, both looking a lot like the ones I know — it most likely _is_ Ellaine, but of course I'm still gonna be anxious about it.  
This seems to be the app Melga used to tell me her name. I have to admit that's pretty cool… Of course I still don't see her anywhere, so that means she can control the data that appears or something. Like a Super Mega Admin… Or, should I say… Super _Melga_ Admin. Hehe.  
I wonder if she can do this with all the other apps as well. Actually… wasn't she doing exactly that when she was showing info about Pokémon and other stuff on her screen?

“…M-Milza?”  
Lillie! Her voice startles me, making me accidentally let go of the tablet-Dex — but fortunately, Melga starts levitating instantly, saving it from crashing into the ground. I swear, sometime I gotta tell her how amazing she is.  
“Yes, ah- sorry-- did I take too long? I'm ready now!”  
“Oh, oh no it's fine! Hau just took off by himself, but he wanted me to tell you that it is not your fault, it's just because he was very eager to go.”  
Alright…? That said, it seems fitting of what I've seen of him so far…

As I'm about to get Blu, Cinnamon and Ayo out of their pokéballs to ask them if they'd want to stay out with us, Lillie touches my hand. I look at her inquiringly.  
“I-I just… wanted you to know that… I-I think you did really well — w-with your battles, I mean. And I am sorry for y-your memory loss.” Her voice is getting gradually quieter. “It… must be awful… f-feeling so alone in a world y-you don't know…”

…Silence. I-- wasn't expecting that? I don't know what to say??

After a few seconds, Lillie's cheeks redden slightly. Her hand slips off of mine ; she turns around and starts walking towards the end of the road, slightly clutching her bag's strap.  
_Ack, no! I'm so stupid--  
Geez_ Milza, you could've just said something like, I don't know, _thank you??_ But _no,_ of course, you had to be _stupid_ and say _nothing_ and now it's awkward and it's _all_ your fault!

I caught up to her. We've been slowly walking in silence for at least half a minute now.  
_Come on. She's probably waiting for your answer RIGHT NOW. Say something, you dumbass!_  
“I… Thank you for… staying with me during the, um, battles.”  
I think she's looking at me now. agh.  
“I know the Rotom Dex was helping me as well, but, I'm… happy you were here too.  
“I'm… not sure if I would've done _that_ good if you haven't been there…”  
_See! It wasn't THAT difficult, was it now?_  
Time to stare at my feet. How am I so bad at human interaction?

Suddenly, I feel Lillie's hand on my arm. For the second time — in, what, three minutes? — I look up to see her face.

She's smiling.


	15. Seaside Rest

I think that was good. She smiled, that means it's good, right?  
Aghhh, yes, _of course_ it was good, how can a smile mean anything else.  
I mean, technically, it can mean a lot of things depending on context but oh my fucking god brain please stop can't I think normal thoughts for once? Please. I'm begging you.  
And there I am talking to myself in my own mind _again_ actually what _are_ normal thoughts? Do normal thoughts exist? Normal only exists because of the majority that thinks it does. Normal is a stupid word. Wait, isn't it also one of the types like plant? (OK I know it's _Grass,_ alright, I'll stop calling it the wrong thing.) Who decided on this. Were decisions even taken about this? What even is “this” anym-- _Is that a huge cat over there!!_

“Look! _that's the cat from before!_ ”  
Just there, at the turn of the road — with spotted light grey and orange fur.  
“Wait, what is it holding…?”  
I stop to stare at the thing in the cat's mouth.  
It looks like a hat. I swear I've seen it somewhere before…  
“This is a Persian,” says Lillie. “And that…”  
She pauses.  
“…is your hat.”

My…? …Oh _yeah,_ I did have a hat at the very beginning, didn't I. Where could I have lost…  
Ah. _Right._  
That time I almost died.  
I'm trying to get closer to the cat. I remember the hat now.  
“...Where did you even get that?”  
Whoops I said that out loud. The Persian heard me.  
It turns its head and two teal eyes stare into mine.  
Oh my god. _It's so gorgeous. And it looks so soft.  
I wanna pet so bad oh my fucking god_

It's coming closer. I'm just staying there. It feels like my mind is trying to think about three things at once and can't properly articulate any of them.  
And then the cat just… drops the hat in front of me _and it rubs itself against my leg_.  
_I can't resist anymore I NEED TO PET IT--_

  
“Lillie, Milza are you h- oh there you are! Are you coming yet?”  
That sounds like Hau's voice. Hadn't he gone ahead of us?  
“W-Well, Milza's been… stroking a Persian for ten minutes.”  
It's so soft!! And it started purring, how was I supposed to stop?!  
“Oooh, that looks fun! Milza, do you think I could pet them too?”  
Huhh--

I raise my head from the thick fur I had buried my face in.  
“I, huh, I have no idea. It just… looked like it was asking me for attention?”  
Hau thinks for a short moment — before noticing the hat I haven't put back on my head yet.  
“Did that Persian bring back your hat?? I don't know for you, but they look _very_ dedicated to me! I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to join your team!!”  
…What.

I look at the Persian. They stare at me again for a few seconds… and proceed to rub their face against my arm.  
_Oh my gosh they're so cute_. But wait, does that mean-  
“Do-- do you,, want me to _catch you?_ ”  
They nod in response.

*  
* *

How many does that make me now?  
Blu, Cinnamon, Ayo… and now, Isabel. Four.  
I have no friggin clue how my team is growing so fast!! It's been what, _two days?_  
…Two days…  
They feel like forever. And I still don't know why and how I ended up with no memories. I know it's only been two days, but… Let's say I'm just not feeling very hopeful about getting anything back at all. I guess… trying to have no hope for something brings less disappointment in the case that it effectively does not happen. I mean, this _is_ also a magical/supernatural-animals-filled world… ehh, no, you're doing it wrong, you're supposed _not_ to hope for the thing--

“ _Woop?”_  
Cinnamon? Ah, right, everyone's out. I forgot. I simply tried to introduce them to Isabel, but then they all climbed on their back and insisted to stay up there… At least Isabel didn't seem to mind?  
I give Cinnamon a soft pat to reassure her.  
“I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about me.”  
I even manage to crack a small smile at the end. She looks relieved. _Phew_.

Now where is Hau… oh, there he is. Judging by the enthusiastic arm waving, I think he wants us to check out the beach. Lillie's stopped halfway… is she waiting for my answer?  
I cast a quick glance at the whole bunch of critters by my side.  
“Y'all up for the beach?”  
…Aaand I'll take those reactions as a yes.  
“ _We're coming!”_

  
Who thought actually socializing could be so nice?  
…Just kidding. I know it's supposed to be nice. I'm just usually too awkward for it.  
Suddenly, Hau sits up, looking excited:  
“I just had an idea! What if we took a picture?”  
…A picture?  
“This is moment feels so good! Wouldn't it be great if we immortalized it?”  
“…I'm not saying I'm against it, but, do we _have_ anything to take a picture with…?”  
He thinks for half a second.  
“Well… maybe if your Rotom is okay with it?”  
“She can…?” I turn to look at her, partially hidden in my bag. I can't see her face. Is she listening?  
“…You can take pictures?”  
One second passes.

I start to turn back to the others.  
“…Well, I don't kn-”  
“Bzzt.”  
And before I can turn back yet again to see if Melga actually answered, I can see her hovering over us, and — did she just her head 180 degrees?  
A lens opens on the back of her screen (or is it the front now?). I'm not sure why I'm even surprised anymore.  
“Milza, your Rotom is awesome!! Thanks a lot, Rotom!  
“Now, _everyone_ _come over here!!_ We're taking a picture!!”


	16. Welcoming Horizon

[Welcome to the beginning of the ekū'ē kaiʻa, Lily group.]

[➔ ekū'ē kaiʻa added moonpie to the group.]

[ekū'ē kaiʻa - Today at 5:07 PM]  
Here we go!! I think it should work?  
Lillie are you here too??

[moonpie - Today at 5:08 PM]  
hello

[Lily - Today at 5:08 PM]  
Yes. I am here

[ekū'ē kaiʻa - Today at 5:09 PM]  
Awesome!! :D

  
“We can always find a group name later! And a picture too!!”  
That sounds exactly like something I'd overthink about if I were alone, heh. I just have one question…  
“…Hau, what's your username supposed to mean?”  
“Oh! Well I had to find one but wasn't sure so Kukui decided to help choose and I don't know if you-- I mean of course you don't know about it, sorry-- but there's this super cool Dragon-Fighting Pokémon called Kommo-o and it has a move that only its species can learn which is called Clanging Scales, and Kukui suggested I use that — I thought it was a great idea but I wanted it to sound even cooler so I asked my Gramps if he could translate it into old Alolian for me, I don't remember exactly the full thing but it was very long so I just took bits of it and that's how I got the name!!”

…Dang, that sure was an explanation.  
“Wow haha, that sounds like something I would do! And it _is_ a pretty cool name.”  
Hau smiles even more.  
“I know right? Oh, and I don't know if you recognized him, but if you look at my profile picture–”  
He reaches for Melga's screen and clicks on his name.

[ekū'ē kaiʻa#0783]

“–You can see it's Leo!!  
“…Well, his face is very close to the screen, but that's because he jumped on the camera when I took the picture.”  
Oh yeah, looking at it again I can see him. Or more like, I can see a blurred muzzle and half of an eye.

Hau stares at my screen for a few more seconds before looking up.  
“Hey, I just noticed you two don't have a picture! For Milza I can understand cause she just created her account, but what about you, Lillie? You've had your phone for a few weeks now, right?”  
Upon hearing her name, Lillie, who was busy petting the sleeping Cinnamon in her lap, raises her head to answer.  
“W-Well… You see, I'm not really used to having a phone of my own… There are so many weird options that I haven't tried looking through them all…”  
Ah yeah, I guess I can see that. Personally I love customizing things, but if this is one of your first times using something, it makes sense that it'd be hard for you.

Apparently Hau's come to a more exciting conclusion than me, because he looks enthusiastic:  
“That means we can help you with it!! Milza got the hang of ‘Tinapp pretty quickly, so we'll both be able to help!!”  
There he goes. Lillie seems unsure of what to answer, but Hau just keeps going:  
“Ok, we can just start with your profile picture if you want. Because it's small. But it's gonna follow you everywhere you talk, so you really gotta think about it before you-”  
“L-Look, there's a pebble on the sand here, do you think it would work?”  
Lillie's already trying to take a picture of the little rock. Hau looks extremely confused for a second.  
“Wait, you're ready to go with just any old thing on the ground?? You really don't have any ideas?”

As the two of them attempt to settle on something, I look down again at Melga who's still in my hands. Or maybe I should say “look at my Dex” instead… Because Melga's eyes are still empty. I'll just give her space until she feels like coming back, I guess… if she ever does.  
Mindlessly, I open the Photos tab in the app. It _is_ true that this feels kind of familiar… I really don't know how this could be a hint to anything, though.  
There's only one picture in the Dex. It's the group picture we took earlier. Somehow we managed to fit everyone in it? Except Melga, of course. Hey, wait, that gives me an idea…

[✎ moonpie changed the channel icon.]

And it looks like Hau and Lillie have solved their problem, because her profile picture is now a shot of the ocean, with the sun reflecting on the horizon.

[moonpie - Today at 5:29 PM]  
that's a great pic you guys found :D  
i love it

[ekū'ē kaiʻa - Today at 5:29 PM]  
Hey, ditto!!  
The group picture for the group picture, that's perfect!

[Lily - Today at 5:30 PM]  
I like them both

“B-But… why are we talking by text if we are right next to each other?”  
...Good question. Hau giggles in response.  
“Haha, I'm not sure! Maybe it's just funny!”  
His laughter is contagious. I can't help but chuckle a little. Lillie smiles.

 _Pew!_  
Nebby… pews?  
“ _Nebby!_ What are you doing out of the bag? _Someone could see you!_ ”  
Lillie immediately proceeds to get Nebby back in. Geez, that sure is one insufferable cloud, huh? I don't know how she does it, if it were me I would've probably snapped already.  
And then, as if she heard my thoughts, Lillie sighs:  
“… It's just so h-hard keeping them hidden… As you can see, they like to get out as soon as I'm not looking.”

It seems really tiring, yeah. But now I'm wondering…  
“Lillie?”  
She looks up, waiting for me to go on.  
“Err, I don't know if it's okay to ask but… Why exactly does Nebby need to be a secret? Is it _only_ because they don't know any moves, or… is there something else?”  
Lillie thinks for a second, and then sighs again.

“Oh w-well, I trust you two, so I suppose I can tell you more… D-Despite what I said earlier, Nebby is actually very powerful. However, the thing is they don't know how to control their strength properly, and it can… _get out of hand_ really fast…”  
A certain explosion comes to my mind. I try to shoo the memory away, but yeah, I get the picture.

(I don't know if something showed on my face or what, but it seems like Lillie looks just a little sorrier before she continues.)  
“But that's not all. The biggest problem is… well, let's just say not everyone has the best intentions…”  
Oh geez. If there's _actually_ people looking for them, I understand why she's so focused on keeping the darn cloud in the bag. That sounds kinda scary, too, having people tracking you for your friend… I'm curious to know more, of course, but if she's not ready to tell I'm not going to press her – though now I'm even more impressed.

“Hmmmm…”  
As he is thinking, I just now notice that Hau's had serious face on since when Lillie started telling her story. That must be the less effusive I've ever seen him… but suddenly, his face lightens up and he's beaming again. Looks like he's gotten another idea.  
“So then it's up to us to help you protect Nebby!!”  
…And yet again, he somehow spins the situation around to show the positive side of it. How does he do it every time?

“I thought if we're all protecting Nebby, it's like we're all in a special group, you know? Like a guild with warriors! The knights who have sworn an oath to keep our friend safe!! And maybe we could have a cool name too, and it would work as a code name! Like, huh-- space dust, cause that's what Nebby looks like… We could be the Space Dust Defenders!!”

I look at Lillie. She still looks surprised– and then she smiles again. The kind of smile that is so precious and adorable that you just want to hold it dear in your hands so it doesn't fade away.  
I look at Hau. I scream,  
“ _Hell yeah!!”_  
And I leap to Lillie's side to hug her.

  
[ekū'ē kaiʻa changed the channel name: ✧ Space Dust Defenders ✧]


	17. Still there

My feet are still a little wet from Blu helping me get the sand off my sandals, but I can already feel them slowly drying up.  
Lillie is showing me around the city, because Hau has already gone ahead to get us some malasadas at the shop — it's what Ellaine had left me to eat the first morning.  
My whole team is still out of their pokéballs, because Isabel is somehow not tired yet from carrying around the other three on his back… and they look very happy to be on here.

We've stopped to look at the clothes shop a little bit. I'm usually not one to do much window-shopping — or shopping at all for that matter… — but it _is_ true that some of these clothes look more comfortable than basically everything I found in the closet of “my” bedroom. Don't know what I was thinking when buying these, frankly.  
…Also I _literally_ don't know, haha…

I hear Lillie sigh beside me.  
“Every time I come to look at these w-windows, no matter what, I never buy anything… Even though the professor and his wife told me I can use some of their money if I need to, i-it's like I can never bring myself to wear anything other than what I already have…”  
Oh, his _wife?_ Kukui? Interesting. Not the most important thing at the moment though.  
“Huh, is there something wrong with your usual clothes?”

Lillie clutches her bag just a little bit.  
“O-oh, no, not really, I mean… it's just that my mother has always been the one telling me what to wear… I don't really know h-how I would choose for myself. I'm not sure how I could manage to find something different i-if I don't what kind of thing would suit me…  
“I… I really like the way that you dress, though.”  
_Me, for real?_ I don't even remember who picked these, heh.  
“Haha, you wanna trade?”

 _Hold up, was that out loud–_  
Errrr-- goddammit, I think it was. Milza, you are such a dumbass, _how_ do you keep doing this?  
“ _Huuuuuh,_ no, wait, hold on, that's… _er,_ nevermind what I just said.”  
Silence. Some part of my brain would love to run away _very far from here_ right now.  
“I mean, that's, _um,_ very nice of you to say, uh-- even if I didn't exactly, er, _choose_ my outfit either. I was kinda just… already wearing it when I woke up… And I haven't really tried anything else.”

A little more silence. God this is really killing me. My voice goes down, it's probably so close to gibberish muttering that I'm not sure if Lillie can hear me anymore.  
“… _and it's not like i even_ like _these…… apparently amnesia making your taste in clothing change drastically is a thing that happens…”_  
I try to look at Lillie from the corner of my eye.  
She's still looking at the store window — but her head suddenly turns to me and her eyes are somehow smiling even more than her lips.  
“Hey, what do you say we go in there and get you new clothes?”  
I, huh, oh, _not what I expected!_ Even though I don't know what I expected-

*  
* *

“Ohhh, and what's the Pokémon on this one?”  
[Pattern recognized: Fraxure]  
[Dragon type]  
“Dang it looks cool. I'm trying that one on.”  
Still can't believe I'm doing this.

As I add the hoodie to the little pile of clothes on my left arm, I cast a glance at Lillie and Hau nearby. They look like they're having fun just looking at the clothes too.  
After Lillie told him what we were going to do, Hau said he'd be coming to join us “asap” (as soon as his wait in line would be over).  
Now they're waiting until _I'm_ done browsing, I think… And to be honest, I'm glad they told me I can take my time a bit because all these clothes are way too much fun to look through.

There's just so many directly inspired by Pokémon — which, yeah, if I were in the clothing designer's place, with all these super-cool magical creatures right there ready to be sources of inspiration, I'd probably make tons of clothes like them too.  
And Melga… is still not saying anything, of course, but she's apparently decided to float around and show me full pictures of all the Pokémon depicted on the clothing (plus the names, even though I'm not sure if I'll really remember any)! Super-duper cool.

  
I'm in the fitting room now, looking at my outfit to try and decide if it's the one I'm keeping.  
I gotta say it really is kind of a mess, haha. Though really cool at the same time (maybe I'm biased because they're all Pokémon clothes and the images of them on Melga's screen looked rad).  
Actually, it _would_ be really funny to just keep these… also they're way more comfortable than my previous outfit and that's the most important thing, ha.  
Plus there's some nice color coordination going on between… hold on, what were the Pokémon on them again? …I think the hoodie's _Fraxure,_ the pants are… _Lurantis_ … and _Jangmo_ -something for the dress.  
At some point Melga also “said” something about _shiny_ … _shinies?_ Never heard of that before, I'll have to ask about it.  
And, hold on… Speaking of things to ask about, aren't you supposed to _pay_ for clothes?

  
[Lainergie - Today at 4:07 PM]  
Hey hey! :-)  
It is indeed I, your mom ;-)  
Have a fun time with your friends!

[moonpie - Today at 6:16 PM]  
Hi again!! Can I ask you for help about something  
We went to check out a clothing shop but I don't think I have money to buy anything and also I thought I should probably ask you first if it's okay

[Lainergie - Today at 6:19 PM]  
Hello! Yes don't worry, everything is alright :-)  
Actually, your Dex should already have money available, I made sure to leave you some!  
Don't spend it all in one go ;-D

[moonpie - Today at 6:20 PM]  
Ok, thanks a lot!

  
Er, wait, I don't actually know how to do this. Should I just ask Melga out loud? Will she answer?  
“Hum, Mel- Rotom?” (I'm talking quietly but just in case.)  
“Do you… erm, can you pay for stuff? Like is there an app for that?”  
She's still in my bag on the side. I take the Dex out and look at it.  
_The screen lightens up!_  
…It's a… loading icon.  
That's new. Is there something wrong or-

[Affirmative.]  
[Contactless payment is possible.]

Ohh, I suppose she was just thinking about it before answering. Ah well, that sounds cool though! Now I'll just go stress out a little about the price of everything, haha…

  
“W-what? Oh, I-I mean, that does sound like a good idea, of course! But y-you don't have to…”  
“Lillie, Milza's right, I think it could work!! We can always just give it a shot, y'know? C'mon, we got Milza cool new clothes, now it's your turn to get stuff!”  
And off we go. Right after I walked out of a shop in my new clothes, we're following Hau who's leading the way to the mall.  
This is because I was thinking about Nebby always leaving Lillie's bag, and I suggested trying to find another bag with some sort of peeking hole in it — so that they could experience the outside to some extent without needing to send Lillie into a panic.

  
[moonpie - Today at 6:54 PM]  
Hello Kukui  
Check out what we found for Lillie!

[LitWicked Berry - Today at 6:54]  
Woah woah hey, is that a new backpack? It looks fantastic! Where'd you find it?

[moonpie - Today at 6:55 PM]  
At the mall!  
There's a part that's see-through from the inside so Nebby can look around while staying in the bag!  
I had the idea so we went to ask at the mall if it was a thing and turns out it was

[LitWicked Berry - Today at 6:56 PM]  
Ayy, it's great that Lillie's trying new things!  
Congrats on assisting my assistant >;3

[moonpie - Today at 6:56 PM]  
qkvdlskhsjs  
Oh also, Lillie was worried that people would be able to see Nebby from the outside, but all we can really discern is their eyes, so Hau said we can just pretend they're a Gastly (Rotomdex showed me a picture of one and I think I agree)

[LitWicked Berry - Today at 6:57 PM]  
I see Rotom's already got the hang of the Pokédex, then! Awesome!  
You kids are good, dang


End file.
